WHO I FISHED WITH: This morning, Tuesday, Dec. 14th, I fished with first-time guests Mark and Tyler Jermstad.
Mark is an office supply salesman nearing retirement in the Georgetown area, and Tyler operates a State Farm insurance agency on West Adams in the Belton-Temple area.
Here is how the fishing went …
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My next few openings will be on January 4th, 6th & 10th. Weekday mornings are always best.
PHOTO CAPTION: Father and son team Mark and Tyler Jermstad with a few of the white bass we really had to work for today after facing unforecast fog for the first 3 hours of our morning.
WHERE WE FISHED: Lake Belton
WHEN WE FISHED: Tuesday (AM), 14 December 2021
HOW WE FISHED:
First, let me say if you have identified a meteorologist who consistently predicts local fog, I’d pay good money for his contact info!!
Our efforts were hindered by an unexpected, unforecast fog this morning which lingered for a full 3+ hours. As I launched the boat, the fog was barely fog at all and visibility was fair, but, after sunrise, the fog began to form up about 100 feet off the lake’s surface, and then got lower and more dense as time went on.
I have never done well in foggy conditions and typically postpone trips if I see fog forecast, but, we didn’t have that luxury today.
We struggled the entire time the fog persisted, catching 15 fish at our first stop before the fog got dense, then just picked up a single, or at most two, fish here and there until right around 10AM when the fog began to thin and a slight ripple from the SE formed.
Most of our fish were taken today on the MAL Heavy Lure worked with a sawtooth pattern horizontally before and after the fog, and on the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab (3/8 oz. white) when the fishing was tough.
I made a call around 10AM to extend the trip (with my clients’ permission) so that we could take advantage of the improving conditions once the fog was gone and the wind began to blow. We only had 18 fish in the boat at this point in time. We wound up fishing for 6 hours to put together the 51 fish catch we ended up with.
When all was said and done, we landed exactly 51 fish, including 2 juvenile hybrid striped bass and 49 white bass.
Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs and MAL Lures found here: https://whitebasstools.com/
TALLY: 51 fish caught and released
OBSERVATIONS: Fish are still unusually shallow for this time of year. We consistently caught fish in under 14 feet of water today. I’ve not caught a fish in over 35 feet of water since the beginning of November. Next cold front is due in late Friday/early Saturday, 17/18 Dec.
WEATHER DATA:
Start Time: 7:30A
End Time: 1:30P
Air Temp. @ Trip’s Start: 59F
Elevation: 2.10 feet low, .03 fall, 39 CFS flow
Water Surface Temp: 60.4F
Wind Speed & Direction: Calm at trip’s start and until just after 10AM, building slowly thereafter to SE6 by trip’s end
Sky Condition: A troublesome fog through 10A, then minimal brightening thereafter. Occasional sprinkles/light rain.
Moon Phase: Waxing gibbous moon at 81% illumination.
GT = 40
Wx SNAPSHOT:
AREAS FISHED WITH SUCCESS:
FISHING:
**Area B0123C – 15 fish on MAL Heavy Lures (white blade/chartreuse tail) worked with a sawtooth tactic before the fog set in; ~22 feet of water.
**Area 0152 – minor activity here under fog cover. Took a few fish on the Bladed Hazy Eye Slab and had other interested fish which followed but did not strike.
**Area 0169 – the shallowest fish I’ve caught on Belton since the spring shad spawn. We worked MAL Heavy Lures (white blade/chartreuse tail) with a sawtooth tactic in 4-12 feet of water and caught 19 legal fish doing it during what was the single best window of the morning, from ~10:15 to 11:0)A
**Area B0170C to B0114C – 10 more fish taken from moving schools of fish in ~20-23′. We worked MAL Heavy Lures (white blade/chartreuse tail) with a sawtooth tactic. By now the brief feed had peaked and was falling off.
**Area 1624 – this was the last area we enjoyed success at before the fish shut down. We landed 3 white bass here on Bladed Hazy Eye Slabs from out of ~27′ and really had to work for these. We experienced a lot of fish following but not striking here.
Bob Maindelle
Full-time, Professional Fishing Guide and Owner of Holding the Line Guide Service
Belton Lake Fishing Guide, Stillhouse Hollow Fishing Guide
254.368.7411 (call or text)
Website: www.HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
E-mail: Bob@HoldingTheLineGuideService.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bobmaindelle
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bobmaindelle
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